Abstract
The objectives of this study were (1) to determine cadmium (Cd) accumulation in the midgut gland of a land snail Helix pomatia L. inhabiting residential areas of the 14 largest cities in Poland, and (2) to examine whether the accumulated Cd exerted any toxic effects. The average accumulation of Cd in the midgut gland of snails, weighing 16–18 g, ranged from 7.00 to 87.3 µg/g dry weight (0.06–0.77 µmol/g) and differed significantly among animals from the various urban areas. This difference in Cd accumulation was not related to city population, but was associated with the topsoil Cd (R2 = 0.868, p < 0.0001). The tissue Cd was not found to produce toxicity (histopathology, programmed cell death, lipofuscin formation or lipid peroxidation), probably due to the induction of sufficiently high quantities of metallothionein and glutathione, well-known protective molecules.
Highlights
The objectives of this study were (1) to determine cadmium (Cd) accumulation in the midgut gland of a land snail Helix pomatia L. inhabiting residential areas of the 14 largest cities in Poland, and (2) to examine whether the accumulated Cd exerted any toxic effects
Land snails, including Helix pomatia L., have been shown to exhibit a high capacity to accumulate Cd in the midgut gland (Dallinger and Wieser 1984; Rabitsch 1996; Menta and Parisi 2001; Dallinger et al 2004), which makes them useful tools for the assessment of the metal pollution in soil (Dallinger 1994)
The high capacity of Cd accumulation is related directly to efficient induction of a specific Cd-binding metallothionein (MT) isoform which is responsible for retention and detoxification of the metal in the midgut gland of H. pomatia and other species (Dallinger et al 1997, 2004; Chabicovsky et al 2004; Hodl et al 2010)
Summary
The objectives of this study were (1) to determine cadmium (Cd) accumulation in the midgut gland of a land snail Helix pomatia L. inhabiting residential areas of the 14 largest cities in Poland, and (2) to examine whether the accumulated Cd exerted any toxic effects. It has been demonstrated further that pathological alterations such as increased programmed cell death and cell proliferation, the formation of lipofuscin granules, and the disruption of mitochondrial membranes in this organ can occur at Cd concentrations above a threshold of 0.8 lmol/g dry weight, when all binding sites on the MT isoform are saturated with Cd and the resulting non-MT-bound Cd ions can exert their toxic effects (Hodl et al 2010). The purposes of this study were (1) to determine Cd accumulation in the midgut gland of H. pomatia inhabiting residential areas of the 14 largest cities in Poland, and determine whether this accumulation was related to city population size and soil Cd, and (2) to examine whether the accumulated Cd affected tissue structure, programmed cell death, the formation of lipofuscin granules and lipid peroxidation. The concentrations of MT and glutathione (GSH) that are linked to a protective effect against Cd toxicity (Chan and Cherian 1992; Nzengue et al 2008) were determined
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